1989 Boston Red Sox season

1989 Boston Red Sox
Division	Eastern Division
Ballpark	Fenway Park
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Owners	Jean Yawkey, Haywood Sullivan
Managers	Joe Morgan
Television	WSBK-TV, Ch. 38 (Sean McDonough, Bob Montgomery) NESN (Ned Martin, Jerry Remy)
Radio	WPLM-FM 99.1 WPLM-AM 1390 (Ken Coleman, Joe Castiglione) WRCA (Bobby Serrano, Hector Martinez)
Seasons

The 1989 Boston Red Sox season was the 89th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses, six games behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

Offseason

• November 20, 1988: Dennis Lamp was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.
• December 8, 1988: Spike Owen was traded by the Boston Red Sox with Dan Gakeler to the Montreal Expos for John Dopson and Luis Rivera.
• February 6, 1989: Danny Heep signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.

Regular season

By the end of the 1980s, Wade Boggs was the only player in history to achieve four straight 200-hit, 100-walk seasons. By the end of the decade, he was also the only modern player to achieve 200 hits in a season for seven consecutive seasons.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Toronto Blue Jays	89	73	0.549	—	46–35	43–38
Baltimore Orioles	87	75	0.537	2	47–34	40–41
Boston Red Sox	83	79	0.512	6	46–35	37–44
Milwaukee Brewers	81	81	0.500	8	45–36	36–45
New York Yankees	74	87	0.460	14½	41–40	33–47
Cleveland Indians	73	89	0.451	16	41–40	32–49
Detroit Tigers	59	103	0.364	30	38–43	21–60

Record vs. opponents

1989 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–6	10–3	6–6	7–6	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	9–3	7–6
Boston	7–6	—	4–8	7–5	8–5	11–2	4–8	6–7	6–6	7–6	7–5	5–7	6–6	5–8
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	5–7	11–1	4–9	7–5	11–2	6–6	5–8	7–6	6–7	7–5
Chicago	6–6	5–7	5–8	—	7–5	4–8	6–7	10–2	5–8	5–6	5–8	7–6	3–10	1–11
Cleveland	6–7	5–8	7–5	5–7	—	5–8	8–4	3–10	5–7	9–4	2–10	6–6	7–5	5–8
Detroit	3–10	2–11	1–11	8–4	8–5	—	6–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–8	4–8	2–11
Kansas City	6–6	8–4	9–4	7–6	4–8	6–6	—	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–6	9–4	8–5	7–5
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	5–7	2–10	10–3	7–6	4–8	—	9–3	8–5	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	6–6	2–11	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	7–6	5–8	9–3
New York	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–5	4–9	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	—	3–9	8–4	5–7	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	8–5	8–5	10–2	8–4	6–7	7–5	7–6	9–3	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	6–6	7–5	6–7	6–7	6–6	8–4	4–9	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	3–9	6–6	7–6	10–3	5–7	8–4	5–8	7–5	8–5	7–5	5–8	7–6	—	5–7
Toronto	6–7	8–5	5–7	11–1	8–5	11–2	5–7	7–6	3–9	6–7	5–7	7–5	7–5	—

Opening Day Line Up

26	Wade Boggs	3B
17	Marty Barrett	2B
24	Dwight Evans	RF
39	Mike Greenwell	LF
12	Ellis Burks	CF
14	Jim Rice	DH
7	Nick Esasky	1B
10	Rich Gedman	C
3	Jody Reed	SS
21	Roger Clemens	P

Transactions

• August 5, 1989: Ed Romero was released by the Boston Red Sox.
• August 7, 1989: Greg A. Harris was selected off waivers by the Boston Red Sox from the Philadelphia Phillies.

Alumni game

The team held an old-timers game on May 6, before a scheduled home game against the Texas Rangers. Festivities included an appearance by Carl Yastrzemski, shortly after his election to the Hall of Fame. Red Sox alumni lost to a team of former MLB players from other clubs, by a 9–0 score in three innings of play.

Roster

1989 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 52 Mike Boddicker 50 Tom Bolton 23 Oil Can Boyd 21 Roger Clemens 40 John Dopson 44 Wes Gardner 27,42 Greg Harris 31 Eric Hetzel 15 Dennis Lamp 47 Rob Murphy 49 Joe Price 54 Mike Rochford 48 Lee Smith 41 Mike Smithson 46 Bob Stanley		Catchers  6 Rick Cerone 10 Rich Gedman 20 John Marzano Infielders 17 Marty Barrett 26 Wade Boggs  7 Nick Esasky 30 Sam Horn  3 Jody Reed  2 Luis Rivera 11 Ed Romero		Outfielders 12 Ellis Burks 24 Dwight Evans 39 Mike Greenwell 29 Danny Heep  5 Randy Kutcher 18 Carlos Quintana 16 Kevin Romine 19 Jeff Stone 19,20 Dana Williams Other batters 14 Jim Rice		Manager 35 Joe Morgan Coaches 33 Dick Berardino (Bullpen) 37 Al Bumbry (First Base) 34 Bill Fischer (Pitching) 32 Richie Hebner (Hitting) 36 Rac Slider (Third Base)

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Rick Cerone	102	296	72	.243	4	48
1B	Nick Esasky	154	564	156	.277	30	108
2B	Marty Barrett	86	336	86	.256	1	27
3B	Wade Boggs	156	621	205	.330	3	54
SS	Luis Rivera	93	323	83	.257	5	29
LF	Mike Greenwell	145	578	178	.308	14	95
CF	Ellis Burks	97	399	121	.303	12	61
RF	Dwight Evans	146	520	148	.285	20	100
DH	Jim Rice	56	209	49	.234	3	28

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Roger Clemens	35	253.1	17	11	3.13	230

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Awards and honors

Awards

• Wade Boggs, Silver Slugger Award (3B)
• Nick Esasky, AL Player of the Month (August)

Accomplishments

• Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Runs (113)
• Wade Boggs, American League Leader, Doubles (51)

All-Star Game

• Wade Boggs, Third Base, Starter
• Mike Greenwell, Outfield, Reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

The Gulf Coast League Red Sox replaced the Arizona League Red Sox/Mariners (a cooperative team) as the Rookie League affiliate.

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Pawtucket Red Sox	International League	Ed Nottle
AA	New Britain Red Sox	Eastern League	Butch Hobson
A	Lynchburg Red Sox	Carolina League	Gary Allenson
A	Winter Haven Red Sox	Florida State League	Dave Holt
A-Short Season	Elmira Pioneers	New York–Penn League	Mike Verdi
Rookie	GCL Red Sox	Gulf Coast League	Felix Maldonado

References

• 1989 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1989 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com